Movies Like Panic in High School

If you liked Panic in High School (1978), a crime and thriller movie directed by Gakuryu Ishii and Yukihiro Sawada, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Lesson of the Evil (2012)
★ 6.7/10Also thriller
Seiji Hasumi is a popular English teacher in a private high school. He is also a violent and sociopathic killer who concocts an extreme plan to deal with the rise of bullying and bad behavior among the student body.
2
Toy Soldiers (1991)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller
After federal agents arrest a drug czar and put him on trial, the cartel leader's vicious son storms a prep school and takes its students hostage. They rebel against the armed intruders and try to take back their…
3
The Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
★ 6/10Also thriller
As the 15th anniversary of a fatal high school shooting approaches, former pupil Diana McFee is haunted by memories of the tragedy. After losing her best friend Maureen in the attack, Diana has been profoundly affected…
4
Battle Royale (2000)
★ 7.3/10Also thriller
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
5
The Desperate Hour (2022)
★ 6/10Also thriller
A woman desperately races to save her child after police place her hometown on lockdown due to an active shooter incident.
6
Liverleaf (2018)
★ 6.1/10Also thriller
The story follows Nozaki Haruka, a middle school student who transfers to a new school in a small town because of her father's work. Unfortunately, she becomes a victim of horrific bullying, but since the school will…
7
Rampage: Capital Punishment (2014)
★ 6/10Also crime and thriller
A man takes over a TV station and holds a number of hostages as a political platform to awaken humanity, instead of money.
8
Zero Day (2003)
★ 7.5/10Also crime
Two troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.
9
Heathers (1989)
★ 7.2/10Also crime
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
10
Crows Zero II (2009)
★ 7.2/10Also crime and thriller
Genji and his victorious G.P.S. alliance find themselves facing down a new challenge by the students of Hosen Academy, feared by everyone as 'The Army of Killers.' The two schools, in fact, have a history of bad blood…
11
Barron's Cove (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and thriller
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the…
12
The Final (2010)
★ 6/10Also thriller
A group of high school outcasts get revenge on the students that torment them.
13
Light It Up (1999)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
14
Class of 1984 (1982)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and thriller
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and…
15
Whisper (2007)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller
Sinister things begin happening to kidnappers who are holding a young boy for ransom in a remote cabin.
16
Another (2012)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller
After a chain of deaths at a junior high school, new transfer student Koichi Sakakibara turns to a mysterious girl who holds the key to the dark mystery.
17
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
★ 7.5/10Also crime
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract…
18
Breaking In (2018)
★ 6/10Also crime and thriller
Shaun Russell takes her son and daughter on a weekend getaway to her late father's secluded, high-tech vacation home in the countryside. The family soon gets an unwelcome surprise when four men break into the house to…
19
The Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller and crime
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute…
20
Protector (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also thriller
Nikki's life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped. Thrust into the criminal underworld while hunted by cops and military, she must fight to rescue her child.